Elite Universities Hide Information On Funding From Ultraconservative Nation Of Qatar

Qatar gave $1 billion to elite American universities since 2011, according to Department of Education data. The Qatar Foundation is suing the Texas attorney general to prevent information about Qatari funding from becoming public. Universities are taking money from Qatar, a nation with a checkered human rights history, as students rally for social justice causes.

The nation of Qatar, a Sharia-law monarchy that has been accused of trying to influence other countries’ governments, gave $1 billion to elite American universities since 2011, according to Department of Education data. Some universities have refused to discuss where strings are attached to that money. The Qatar Foundation, for example, filed a lawsuit against the Texas attorney general Oct. 12 to hide information about the $225 million Qatar has awarded to Texas A&M University since 2011.

The Qatar Foundation hired the politically connected powerhouse law firm Squire Patton Boggs for the suit, which was filed in response to a researcher’s public information request regarding the foreign funding. The biggest recipient of Qatar’s educational funding, Georgetown University, repeatedly ignored requests from The Daily Caller News Foundation for basic information about the funding and whether it implicates academic independence.

Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have accused Qatar of meddling in other nations’ internal affairs as well as funding terrorism. Qatar also wields influence through its media group, Al Jazeera. For a nation seeking sway over the U.S., Georgetown University would be a particularly tactical site of influence. Georgetown has received nearly $333 million from Qatar since 2011 — far more than any other U.S. school has received from any foreign nation. Georgetown is situated in the seat of power, near the State Department, and its experts are frequently cited by groups shaping policy. In fact, the Jesuit Catholic university trains many of the United States’ future diplomats at its Walsh School of Foreign Service. Its website notes that “At SFS, you can study with former Secretaries of State” and access “connections to diplomats from just about every country, and of course, the seat of the U.S. government. Our location gives SFS the extraordinary opportunity for us to engage (and sometimes even influence) the debates that lead to real action.”

Thanks to the Qatari funding, Georgetown and its foreign service program has an entire outpost in Qatar. “Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) is an additional location of Georgetown University, based in Education City in Doha,” its website says. “The University offers a four year undergraduate program in international affairs leading to the Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service (BSFS) degree.” The magnitude of liberal-leaning universities’ reliance on the foreign nation, a poster child for income inequality, provides a stark contrast. As U.S. college students clamor for university endowments to divest from fossil fuels, the schools take money from the oil-rich kingdom. As they rally for social justice causes, Qatar has a checkered human rights record.

Qatar has only 313,000 citizens, and 2.3 million foreigners dwelling there, many of them laborers serving the country’s elite, according to 2017 data. “The tragedy of 1.7 million migrant workers trapped in Qatar defines modern day slavery,” the International Trade Union Confederation said in 2015. Nepalese laborers died at a rate of almost one a day in Qatar, according to The Guardian. “We were working on an empty stomach for 24 hours; 12 hours’ work and then no food all night,” one said. “When I complained, my manager assaulted me, kicked me out of the labor camp I lived in and refused to pay me anything.”

https://www.dailycaller.com/2018/12/16/qatar-georgetown-texas-university/

Qatar Foundation Texas A&M FOIA

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5498798-Qatar-Tamu.html#document/p1

GOP’s Lamar Alexander Won’t Run for Re-Election in 2020

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) announced Monday he will not seek re-election in 2020. “I will not be a candidate for re-election to the United States Senate in 2020,” Alexander said in a statement. “The people of Tennessee have been very generous, electing me to serve more combined years as Governor and Senator than anyone else from our state. I am deeply grateful, but now it is time for someone else to have that privilege. I have gotten up every day thinking that I could help make our state and country a little better, and gone to bed most nights thinking that I have.”

The longtime lawmaker said he will serve out the remainder of his term. The 78-year-old Alexander, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2003 and currently serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, is the first senator up for re-election in 2020 to announce their retirement. Akin to Sen. Bob Corker’s (R-TN) retirement, political observers say Alexander’s announcement, will send “shockwaves” throughout Tennessee’s political scene, according to Tennessean. Possible replacements for the U.S. Senate seat include Rep.-elect Mark Green (R-TN), Gov. Bill Haslam (R), Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) and Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd. Alexander served as the Governor of Tennessee between 1979 and 1987 and the Secretary of Education under President George H. W. Bush.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/17/gops-lamar-alexander-wont-run-for-re-election-in-2020/

Flynn Associates Indicted for Acting as Unregistered Foreign Agents

Two former business associates of Michael Flynn were charged with acting as unregistered agents of a foreign government and conspiracy related to activities surrounding the attempted extradition of exiled Turkish imam Fethullah Gulen from the U.S.

According to The Washington Post, the indictment, unsealed in the Eastern District of Virginia Monday, alleges that Bijan Kian and Turkish businessman Kamil Ekim “conspired” to unlawfully lobby federal U.S. officials and sway domestic public opinion against Gulen, an outspoken critic of Turkish President Recep Erdogan. Further, prosecutors say Alptekin “directed and funded” Flynn and Kian’s activities and later lied to investigators concerning his efforts. Kian reportedly served as vice chairman of Flynn’s lobbying group, the Flynn Intel Group.

The indictment identifies Flynn, who served as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser between January and February of 2017, as “Person A.” Gulen, who resides in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, is believed to have orchestrated a failed coup in 2016. “I just finished in Ankara after several meetings today” with Turkish officials, Alptekin told Flynn and Kian, the indictment states. “I have a green light to discuss confidentiality, budget, and the scope of the contract.” Kian, who is in the process of moving from California to Washington, D.C., was released on personal recognizance bond and must periodically notify his probation officer of his whereabouts. Reports indicate Ekim is currently in Istanbul.

Flynn, who was charged with making false statements to the FBI as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, is due to be sentenced on December 18. Earlier this month, Mueller filed a long-awaited sentencing memo regarding his criminal case against Flynn and recommended the one-time Trump official not receive any prison time after providing prosecutors with “substantial assistance.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/17/bijan-kian-michael-flynn-associate-indicted-for-acting-as-unregistered-foreign-agent/

>>4354200

Indeed a case of the pot calling the kettle black…but it is what they have become most famous for…isn't it.

>>4353904 @ >>4354204

Elite Universities Hide Information On Funding From Ultraconservative Nation Of Qatar

Posted in this bread with supporting FOIA Link..

>>4354363

Right there with you Anon!, If it's any consolation I have talked to people lately whom I thought would never see it and finally are starting to..a little slow on the take, but I'll take it..at least its something positive in the right direction.

>>4354506

I agree with your gut Anon..